Peer to Peer Magazine

Spring 2015

The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association

Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/480238

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BEST PRACTICES PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGA ZINE OF ILTA 12 a phased strategy that includes time to evaluate and rework your program. Do not stop with just one evaluation: You will continually need to measure your program's success against the impact on the business's performance. • Model the Desired Behavior: Demonstrate your commitment by examining and changing your own behaviors. Take time for your own professional development. The development of your skills is directly tied to the development of everyone else's. Leaders who model the desired behavior of valuing learning inspire others to value it as well. • Check Your Attitude: Let go of control issues, and allow learning to happen outside of your classroom. Offer your time to consult with people about what they learned. Praise their successes, and redirect them when they learn the wrong thing. Allow people to share what they know. Build relationships with power users. management team. If you do not understand what is important to the business, find someone who can explain it to you, and keep abreast of changes. • Define a Clear Business Case: Establish a vision for your role in the overall learning program, and tie that vision to your firm's core values. Take the time to align your training goals to the business goals. Assess the current situation, and create a realistic vision of how the proposed changes will make your technology training program part of the firm's learning culture. You will need to refer to your business case to keep everyone on task and excited about your project. • Plan. Plan. Plan: When you take your business case to the firm's management, set realistic short- and long-range goals. Know that you will have to work to keep the effort important to firm leadership. Develop Despite the critical importance of technology, improving technology skills has not been adequately addressed. Lawyers who eagerly attend professional development training often think of technology training as a distraction. What we are failing to convey is that technical skills are business skills. To meet the needs of a changing work force, law firms must create a culture of learning that permeates every part of the law firm — from the top rung of management down to each individual employee. Management must make learning, including technology learning, as important as meeting billable goals. START WITH STRATEGY Short-term needs often interfere with longer-term developments, so develop a strategy to create a culture of technology learning in your firm. • Learn the Business: Before everything else, you need to know what metrics matter to your firm's About the Author Tami Schiller, Client Engagement Specialist at TutorPro Ltd., has focused on legal technology training for over 15 years. She possesses a strong commitment to seeing individuals achieve their potential for technical competency and is always looking for innovative ways to deliver learning opportunities to busy legal professionals. By recognizing emerging trends and willingly sharing with others, Tami supports the legal community as it navigates through rapid changes to business practices and technology innovations. Contact her at tschiller@tutorpro.com. Develop a Culture of Learning As the economy has shifted for law firms, technology is almost always mentioned as both cause and solution. Every job role in your law firm has become more sophisticated as new technology and new procedures continue to be introduced. Leaders who model the desired behavior of valuing learning inspire others to value it as well.

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